The Korean DMZ

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
3
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
3
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
3
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
7
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
55 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
341st/454
Top 80%
continent
Asia
country
South Korea
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$80 ($50-$100 in 2023 prices)
Time of year visited
March
All Tags
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

The DMZ half day trip is really about having the split in the country brought to life. We’ve all heard the stories of Kim Yong Un and the parallel universe of the hermit kingdom of North Korea, but the way the story is told by the south Koreans as part of the standard DMZ tours is quite moving at times and makes it a worthwhile trip.

It’s also generally quite interesting for things like the civilian villages set up in the DMZ itself, the tunnels built by the North Koreans for surprise attack and being able to look into the country with the telescopes to spot North Koreans … all wearing black … marching in unison.

 

TOP TIP – push the tour company hard for you to make your own way to the ticket booth area. There are only so many tickets available each day for visitors to the DMZ, so the tour companies pick you up at some offensively early time from Seoul (5am ish) to get to the ticket booth, which is about 45mins away. You then sit around until around 1030am before you can enter the DMZ. Just give them your passport the day before – and get a taxi from Seoul at 930ish . . . far more civilised.

Highlights

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#1 The sheer oddness of it all - long invasion tunnels and giant flags meet visitor centres and gift shops

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#2 The wonderfully unnecessarily tall flag pole in North Korea. Tallest in the world and, most importantly, taller than the South Korean one A win for DPRK

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#2 The more sombre nature of the whole place. Whilst the character of Kim Jon Un and the hermit kingdom gains much laughter around the world, the DMZ reminds you 1. Of the serious losses in the various conflicts ever since the first war; 2. The sheer number of families separated by this arbitrary line

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#5 Coming away with some "gifts" from the DMZ gift shop

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#5 Getting the binoculars out and having a good nosey, unnecessarily long stare into North Korea

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Odd Experiences around the World

Climbing Changbai Shan’s Heaven Lake in late Autumn
⭐⭐⭐

A day for Astana’s grand-scale architecture
⭐

A couple of days in the parallel world of Yangon
⭐⭐

Checking out Coober Pedy
Gash

Eger – wine tasting in the Valley of the Beautiful Women
⭐

Day trip to see the King Penguins in Porvenir, from Punta Arenas
Gash

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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